WRFI-Meeting Minutes-October 2023

WRFI Board of Directors Meeting

Tuesday October 10TH, 2023 

In Attendance:

-Peter Bakija

-Amie Herman

-Corinne Shanahan

-Talaya Centeno

-Theresa Lyons

-Robin Elliott

-John Young

-Joe Romano

-Felix Teitelbaum

 

Not in attendance:

-Chantal Thomas

-Fred Balfour

-Joseph Haefeli

-Carlos Gutierrez

 

Call to Order at 6:04 pm.

Agenda Items:

Consent Agenda: 

Consent Agenda: Motion to approve minutes from September. Second. Motion passes unanimously.

 

Board Reflections: 

Board Reflections: Joe Romano reflects on Board Meetings of past times; meetings were small and much less efficient. Board has grown and changed and become more effective. Board has come a long way from where it started. Amie asks what Joe feels are specifically different from previous boards. Joe indicates that it is a much wider group of people, and not just a small pool of folks, and seems like a much more professional board. Felix asks what Joe feels the Board is doing now that seems positive. Joe responds that the original Board has people with skill sets that were certainly effective, but feels that the current board is more interested in being more professional in the service of the community than the original Board; the current Board seems more focused on serving the community.

 

Board Specific Issues:

Board Members and Recruitment: Corinne brought the previous information to Fred, who was very receptive to our discussion. Fred will touch back in at the end of the three month period to revisit his Board membership. Corrine suggests continuing to find a few more Board members, and asks that if we have contacts that might make for good members, bring them to Corinne. Corrine discusses a few potential candidates, including an internal WRFI DJ candidate who has finance and fund raising experience who might be interested.

 

Tower Infrastructure:

Tower Infrastructure: The Ithaca Tower at Westhaven is a risk and potential liability that could be problematic. Felix brings a resolution to the board to upgrade the tower to reduce liability and risk by installing a new pole; it would cost ~$4300 to repair the tower. This site is a valuable site, we have a good relationship with the location owner, and any future possible move of our broadcasting facilities could still involve this tower, so upgrading it is a long term upgrade and value.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MRANcDFAWMfOapkNZFzLv0wws8w-buA0UlIABPHV9B0/edit

 

Theresa discusses creating a document that explains our broadcasting location and footprint, in the name of having this sort of information easily available. Corrine asks what the likelihood is of the tower site rent moving from a year to year situation to a longer lease. Felix indicates that it is certainly a possibility, but remains to be seen. There is support for a longer term lease situation. Felix is interested in a three year lease, which is a possibility. Joe supports the motion, on the grounds that the liability and risk is a serious concern. John asks some clarifying questions about the tower vs a utility pole. Robin supports the motion as a reasonable investment in infrastructure. Corinne also supports the resolution, and asks if this upgrade is covered by our lease. Felix intends to renegotiate the lease before implementing the upgrade, but indicates that the existing lease allows for the upgrade, but will ensure that the upgrade is included in any potential new lease. Joe suggests amending the resolution to indicate that it is pending a successful renegotiation of the lease, or at the very least, making sure the lease owner is supportive of this plan. John and Theresa suggest making sure that all possible concerns are part of the potentially renegotiated lease.

 

Amendment to include a renegotiated 3-5 year lease.

 

Motion made to vote on resolution, second. Motion passes with majority.

 

Committee Reports: 

Development and Outreach Committee: Amie indicates that we are very close to making our board pledge match goal happen. Applauds our ability and willingness to be financially supportive to the station. Last year, the board gave upwards of $2400 to the station. This year, the board gave almost $10,000 to the station. Last year we were at about $86,000 in contributed revenue; this year at the same time, we are at close to $88,000 in contributed revenue. Last year, for the full year, we took in about $125,000 in contributed revenue. To beat this goal for this year, we will need to take in about $40,000 in revenue by the end of the year. This is a measurable metric. Amie suggests making connections with key underwriters, key major donors, and effective fundraising in our end of year drive. Felix asks to clarify if these numbers include unrestricted grants or not. Amie indicates that it includes grants in the full year. 

 

Governance Committee: No new developments. 

  

Personnel Committee: No new developments.

Finance Committee: No new developments.

 

ED Report: 

Felix presented an ED report that addressed the following issues:

Results from our recent membership drive, progress on several grants, and major donor prospects. He also covered progress transitioning engineering work from Joseph to Slade and documentation of engineering systems.

Some proposed improvements to the Ithaca tower as well as prospects for relocating the Watkins transmitter.

Completion of 3Q2023 FCC filings, upcoming ownership filing, and the recent National EAS test and attendant filings.

Several recent and upcoming outreach events.

Some minor adjustments to staffing.

Several underwriting sales prospects.

Felix indicates that he had a meeting with the GM of WSKG, which was an interesting conversation, including potential news collaboration. Also indicates that there is an event involving Chantal where Felix and Jim will be presenting about the station as an outreach event to a class through the Alice Cook house, a Cornell institution. In terms of outreach, while there were a few less successful outreach events in the last few weeks, we have had some recent very successful outreach events, and have grown our contact list significantly. Amie discusses a potential outreach possibility with an Ithaca College class.

Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm.